Old State Line Historical Marker
Wattsburg, Erie County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
The northern boundary of Pennsylvania, before the pur-chase of the Erie Triangle in 1792, crossed the highway at this point. The State paid $151,640.25 for the Erie Tract and its port on the Lakes.
The Story
In the young republic's first decades, Pennsylvania's northern line ran right across this road—until 1792, when the state secured the wedge of land known as the Erie Triangle. That purchase, for which Pennsylvania paid the federal government the oddly precise sum of $151,640.25, gave the commonwealth something no other arrangement could: its own frontage on Lake Erie and a deep-water port at Presque Isle. This unassuming spot near Wattsburg marks where the old boundary once lay, before the map was redrawn to reach the Great Lakes.
Why it matters
The Erie Triangle gave Pennsylvania direct access to the Great Lakes, shaping the commerce, shipping, and westward reach of the entire region for generations to come.
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Related events
- · Purchase of the Erie Triangle (1792)
Themes & tags
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